All Posts Tagged: Healthcare IT

What is Physician Burnout

What is Physician Burnout?

“Physician Burnout syndrome” is a real condition in which fatigue, cynicism, and professional inefficacy associated with work-related stress becomes overwhelming and debilitating, according to the Association for Psychological Science. While some level of stress is expected, particularly in the medical field, at some point these stressors can become overbearing, leading some physicians to contemplate leaving the profession or worse.

Manifestations

Physicians are the ones on the front lines of patient care. While other types of professional burnout can be devastating, this is particularly true of doctors because they tend to suffer it more severely. According to Definitive Healthcare, physician burnout manifests itself in many ways, such as:

  • Lack of enthusiasm for work
  • Growing cynicism about patients or career
  • Low sense of self-worth

As a result, these feelings can lead to poor job performance, abandonment of the profession, and in rare cases even suicide. Healthcare researchers are trying to pinpoint the root causes and manage this physician burnout at the organizational level. Some types of physicians experience more burnout than others. Those in critical care experience the highest, followed by emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine and general surgery.

The Patient Side

Burnout doesn’t just affect the doctor, but the patient as well. That’s because this condition can negatively impact a doctor’s mental state and career, leading to a decrease in patient care quality. Not only are higher rates of medical errors reported in those with burnout, patient access, and overall experience are negatively impacted. Physicians suffering from burnout say that they are quick to cut down on office hours and even respond in a negative or clipped manner when interacting with patients.

Causes of Physician Burnout

The causes of physician burnout are highly individualized, and many doctors feel multiple sources of burnout. Medscape says the following are the top causes for physician burnout, in order of importance:

  • Too many bureaucratic tasks
  • Too many hours at work
  • Not enough income
  • Increasing computerization of practice
  • Impact of Affordable Care Act
  • Difficult patients
  • Too many appointments daily
  • Lack of professional fulfillment
  • Difficult colleagues or staff
  • Inability to keep up with current research

Also included in the Medscape report is that women (51%) experience burnout more often than men (43%) and those between age 46 and 55 are most likely to experience burnout. Physicians that are burned out report not exercising as much as they should, with low motivational levels. Sometimes, volunteering, doing mission work, or working with church groups adds to the stress of their lives rather than relieves it. A third of burned out physicians say they have minimal savings compounded by unmanageable debt.

In many cases, physicians reported feeling overwhelmed with administrative tasks that detract from their ability to spend time with their patients. Research shows the average physician spends two hours on administrative tasks for every hour that they interact with patients.

One way to mitigate this is to make office tasks more streamlined. Instead of handling billing issues, which can suck up a large portion of a doctor’s day, outsourcing this to a medical billing provider would be a better use of time. By decreasing time spent on mundane tasks, the physician is freed up to spend more quality time with each patient. This can take away a bit of the stress that so often overwhelms physicians on a daily basis.

Contact Medical Healthcare Solutions

We can help. From mobile medical billing solutions to revenue cycle management, Medical Healthcare Solutions can help physicians reduce their chances of burnout by handling the time-consuming tasks of running a practice. Contact us at 800-762-9800 or fill out our convenient online form.

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A new year always brings new beginnings, but 2017 in particular represents big changes for America as a nation. And as we are always concerned about the state of healthcare, the ushering in of a new president and the promise of more than just tweaks to the existing healthcare system in this country, there is an extra level of uncertainty as to how it will all play out. President Elect Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, even as Obamacare health plans are undergoing open enrollment as we speak. By the Numbers This doesn't seem to be stopping the more than 2 million people who have chosen a plan via Healthcare.gov since the start of open enrollment, translating to 167,000 more plans selected than during this period last year, according to US News and World Report. Despite those numbers, the concern about healthcare looms. One of the big areas of uncertainty is how healthcare billing will be handled for practitioners. What can we expect to see when it comes to healthcare billing changes in 2017? Healthcare IT According to Healthcare IT News, there are two things all healthcare providers can count on starting next year: one, reimbursements will go down as they are getting paid less and less for every service they provide; and two, big advancements in data and IT are coming without which innovative change simply can't happen. The future of healthcare can't be boiled down to one single point; in fact, there is a much wider view that has to be taken into account, with challenges at every turn during this time of flux. Unfortunately, many healthcare organizations will find it hard to stay afloat, with perhaps as many closures and failures as successes. Health IT seems to be the center of change here, with those who use it better and faster rising to the top. Patient Focus Being an effective care provider means you have to change your way of thinking from tunnel-vision focused on a one-size-fits-all approach to medicine, to a customized view of patient care that is specifically tailored to the individual. The economy may get in the way of this progress, however. Nonetheless, with the explosion of the digital age in which patients today are accessing and monitoring their medical records, they're taking more control of their health and wellness. The trick will be to manage that data and use it to fuel change in anything from patient management to more effective medical billing strategies. Patient focus is the key, rather than focusing on the payer. Going forward, health care providers need to flesh out open-source collaboration, rising technologies, and universal exchange languages to result in a cohesive nationwide system. Only then will operating costs decrease, patient care quality improve, and practice revenues rise. Contact Medical Healthcare Solutions As a healthcare provider, you likely have many questions as to how medical billing will change for you next year. Call us at 800-762-9800 or fill out our online form to get a free billing analysis today. Rely on the expertise and experience of Medical Healthcare Solutions (MHS), backed by decades of medical billing experience and service to the healthcare community.

New Year, New Healthcare Billing Changes: What to Expect In 2017

A new year always brings new beginnings, but 2017 in particular represents big changes for America as a nation. And as we are always concerned about the state of healthcare, the ushering in of a new president and the promise of more than just tweaks to the existing healthcare system in this country, there is an extra level of uncertainty as to how it will all play out. President Elect Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, even as Obamacare health plans are undergoing open enrollment as we speak.

By the Numbers

This doesn’t seem to be stopping the more than 2 million people who have chosen a plan via Healthcare.gov since the start of open enrollment, translating to 167,000 more plans selected than during this period last year, according to US News and World Report. Despite those numbers, the concern about healthcare looms. One of the big areas of uncertainty is how healthcare billing will be handled for practitioners. What can we expect to see when it comes to healthcare billing changes in 2017?

Healthcare IT

According to Healthcare IT News,  there are two things all healthcare providers can count on starting next year: one, reimbursements will go down as they are getting paid less and less for every service they provide; and two, big advancements in data and IT are coming without which innovative change simply can’t happen. The future of healthcare can’t be boiled down to one single point; in fact, there is a much wider view that has to be taken into account, with challenges at every turn during this time of flux. Unfortunately, many healthcare organizations will find it hard to stay afloat, with perhaps as  many closures and failures as successes. Health IT seems to be the center of change here, with those who use it better and faster rising to the top.

Patient Focus

Being an effective care provider means you have to change your way of thinking from tunnel-vision focused on a one-size-fits-all approach to medicine, to a customized view of patient care that is specifically tailored to the individual. The economy may get in the way of this progress, however. Nonetheless, with the explosion of the digital age in which patients today are accessing and monitoring their medical records, they’re taking more control of their health and wellness. The trick will be to manage that data and use it to fuel change in anything from patient management to more effective medical billing strategies.

Patient focus is the key, rather than focusing on the payer. Going forward, health care providers need to flesh out open-source collaboration, rising technologies, and universal exchange languages to result in a cohesive nationwide system. Only then will operating costs decrease, patient care quality improve, and practice revenues rise.

Contact Medical Healthcare Solutions

As a healthcare provider, you likely have many questions as to how medical billing will change for you next year. Call us at 800-762-9800 or fill out our online form to get a free billing analysis today. Rely on the expertise and experience of Medical Healthcare Solutions (MHS), backed by decades of medical billing experience and service to the healthcare community.

Read More